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Our Deal of the Day today with focuses on an unbeatable 99% discount on the Droid Incredible 2. Seriously, this things retails for $199, and you can get it for $1.99 with two-year contract. It's got a 4-inch WVGA 800x480 touchscreen display, and ships with Android 2.2. It's got an 8 megapixel camera, front camera, and a 1 GHz SnapDragon processor. Shipping is even free:

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Two and a half years ago, Sergey Brin, Larry Page and T-Mobile introduced the world to the very first phone, the G1. It was a good phone with a workmanlike design, decent keyboard, an average screen and lots of Google goodness built right into it. No one, least of all me, thought it stood much of a chance against the surging AppleiPhone.

For a solid year, the platform looked like a dud. But a funny thing happened on the way to the morgue.

Seven months later, T-Mobile unveiled the keyboard-less MyTouch 3G. As before, it was a nice looking, though slightly curvier, Android phone. It wasn't until the fall of 2009, more than a year after the G1 and Android's launch, that the platform got interesting. That was when Motorola started talking openly about the Droid. By casting aside just two letters and joining with the leading mobile carrier that didn't get the iPhone, Motorola and Google signaled their intention to make Android bolder, sexier and far more desirable.

According to a Verizon statement, the Droid Incredible will receive an update soon that will include the V CAST apps. Here's the statement:

"Verizon Wireless will begin pushing a software update to the DROID Incredible next week. The update includes software enhancements that will pre-install V CAST Apps on the phone. We said earlier this year that we'd be expanding V CAST Apps to the Android platform, and the DROID Incredible is the first Android phone with the store. Developers continue to submit apps, and as a reminder, V CAST Apps allows carrier billing, so customers who purchase applications through our store will see those charges on their monthly bill. For more information about the update customers can go to www.verizonwireless.com/droidincrediblesupport."

It's worth noting that in the past, the Verizon apps have been unremovable, even though many users consider them to be of little use. It's too bad that such an open system like Android is being forced to host such carrier specific modifications. So look for that update hitting your device soon if you're using a Verizon Android device!

With the release of the Motorola Droid 2, what you see above is the complete and current Verizon Droid smartphone lineup. Of course, now that the Droid 2 is available, the original Droid is no longer being sold, although you can find it as a refurbished unit still. The Droid Incredible from HTC is still my favorite Android device, and it’ll get even better once Android 2.2 arrives in a few days on the Incredible. The Droid X is the monster that’s figuring out if it wants to be a smartphone or a mini tablet, and the Droid 2 gives us a powerful (seriously, it’s fast) QWERTY slider that ships with Froyo already installed.

Now here is the interesting thing. The original Droid was Verizon’s first Android device, and it launched on November 6, 2009. A little over 6 months later, the Incredible launched. Three months later, the Droid X arrived from Motorola, and then a month after that, we got the Droid 2. Verizon launched four Droid devices in under a year, and it took Apple three years to do the same. When you look at it that way, it’s only logical that Android phones will outsell iPhone handsets, as there are way more of them to go around (not to mention that they’re available on all four carriers as well.)

Looks like the HTC Droid Incredible is set to pick up a couple of oft-requested features by way of an over-the-air (OTA) software update. Droid Life is reporting that we can expect to see mobile hotspot functionality, 720p video recording, and even the addition of the red Droid eye bootup sequence (not that that one is a big deal.) No firm word on when the update will start being pushed to users, but we have an inquiry out to Verizon on that. Meantime, if you want a peek at the new HTC Incredible boot sequence, check the video after the break.

We recently mentioned that Google announced that the Nexus One wouldn’t be hitting Verizon, and the reason behind the decision is that there is a better option in the Droid Incredible from HTC. We recently got our hands on a Droid Incredible, and we’ve been playing with it for a couple of days now, steadily forming our opinion of the device. While the full review isn’t ready yet, we can comfortably say that we like the Incredible quite a bit more than the Nexus One. Look out for our review in a few days, but in the meantime, we’ve got a Droid Incredible gallery for you, giving you a look at the aesthetics of the device.

If you’re a Verizon Wireless customer that was waiting on the Nexus One‘s arrival before upgrading, looks like you’ll have to make a slight change of plans. Google has just made it known that, despite announcing that the Nexus One would hit Verizon soon, it is now dead. Instead, they recommend that you go with the Droid Incredible instead. At first glance, that may come across as lame, but the fact is that the Droid Incredible is a better phone than the Nexus One, so we have to give kudos to Google for recognizing the work that was put into the phone by HTC. We will have more on the Droid Incredible later today, as we are currently playing around with one in the Gear Live Review Labs.